Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver is running for U.S. Senate, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing.

Of the four Democratic candidates competing to win the office long held by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), only Oliver has not filed a statement of candidacy with the secretary of the U.S. Senate, which is required within 15 days of raising or spending $5,000.

Oliver (D-Essex) hasn’t set up a campaign website, announced any staff hires or held any independently organized events.

But Oliver, whose future for another term as speaker if she doesn’t win the Senate race is cloudy and the subject of much gossip in Trenton, told The Auditor she will gear up her Senate campaign soon.

"After today I will," Oliver said Thursday. "My focus has been on wrapping up my legislative business. That’s my first priority. That’s really all I can tell you is that my first focus is here."

Speaker losing her voice?

Speaking of Oliver’s future, she’s undecided about whether she will seek another term leading the lower house. But signs last week did not bode well for another two years of Oliver.

When Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) needed Assembly members to introduce a hastily written bill to disband the Rutgers board of trustees, it was picked up in the lower house by Assemblymen Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) — whose name has been floated in recent weeks as the next speaker — and Charles Mainor (D-Hudson).

Notice both men are from Hudson County, not Oliver’s native Essex, giving more evidence that the long-standing South Jersey-Essex nexus is frayed and is being replaced by one between South Jersey and Hudson County, or more simply power broker George Norcross, Sweeney and state Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson), who is Prieto’s mentor.

The Auditor gasped Thursday when a resolution authored by Oliver — one she even spoke for on the floor — struggled for three grueling minutes on the board to collect the 41 votes needed to pass. (It finished with 42.)

The resolution (AR191) urged the state treasurer and secretary of higher education to hold off on issuing bond money to Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood and the Princeton Theological Seminary until a court determines if it’s legal.

But the resolution hit opposition, not just from every Republican, but from within Oliver’s own caucus. Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) — who has been making calls to gauge support for his own potential run at the speakership — spoke out against it in caucus.

"Several districts in the state have large orthodox Jewish populations. And could those populations feel that singling out (Beth Medrash Govhova) is a problem?" Schaer, an orthodox Jew, told The Auditor. "The answer is most likely yes."

It’s unusual for legislation to struggle for votes by the time it reaches the Assembly floor. For that to happen to a nonbinding, symbolic resolution backed by the house’s leader is almost unheard of.

That’s telling ’em, sport!

How ’bout those Cowboys?

On the same day last week that a Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio voters put Gov. Chris Christie neck-and-neck with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the presidency in 2016, Christie took a swipe at Clinton.

Asked to defend his allegiance to the Dallas Cowboys, Christie teed off on Clinton’s famous switch from a Chicago Cubs to a Yankees fan during her race for U.S. Senate in New York.

"I’m not going to be Hillary Clinton, okay?" Christie said on his monthly NJ 101.5 FM radio show. "I’m not going to be a Cubs fan my whole life and then when I go to run for office in another state pretend I’m a Yankee fan, okay. I don’t think there’s anything in sports more reprehensible than that. You’re a fan of who you’re a fan of and I absolutely think people can tell a lot about people who change their loyalties to sports teams. If they’re not going to be loyal to their sports teams, why the hell would they be loyal to you?"

2016, here they come.

Here’s to your health (care)

Former Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts got a new gig last week when the Senate confirmed him for a seat on the board of directors of Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey.

That’s no ceremonial position. The job pays $72,000 a year, according to Tom Vincz, spokesman for the nonprofit health insurance provider that covers state employees. The board has five scheduled meetings each year that Vincz said require "significant time and preparation," as well as special meetings "to deal with specific issues that arise."

Reached for comment, Roberts said he "can’t imagine a more timely and important issue to work on right now than health care, particularly with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act."

Roberts said he did not know how much the salary was, but "I am retired, so the compensation will be helpful."

The position is not pensionable and does not include any health benefits.

Back to school

A month ago, you heard that former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Joelle Farrell had jilted Burlington County College — which intended to hire her as its director of communications — and joined Christie’s communications shop.

The position has been filled. The Auditor is told that Greg Volpe, the Assembly Republicans’ deputy communications director and a former Gannett Statehouse reporter, is taking the job at Burlington County College. Reached by phone, Volpe declined to comment.